Hispanic Heritage Week was celebrated during the week of October 8 on the RWU campus. The Spanish Club helped host events throughout the week, including a Colombian dinner in Upper Commons on October 10 and a “Diversi-tea” discussion on October 12, where students could learn about different Latino experiences.
The club showed a film on Tuesday to kickoff Hispanic Heritage week on campus. A bilingual, Mexican comedy-drama film called “Instructions Not Included” or “No se Acceptan Devoluciones” was shown. It focuses on a man in Mexico who has to find his daughter’s mother, after raising her by himself for six years.
On the night of the movie showing, there were some technical difficulties while finding the movie and getting the subtitles to work. Additionally, there was not a huge turnout for the event. However, the Spanish Club’s efforts still meant a lot to the students in attendance.
Ambar Beato, President of the Spanish Club, says that this movie was chosen because it is “not a coming of age movie, but a maturity movie.” “It encompasses life in a Hispanic Latino family that celebrates Hispanic heritage.”
About 20 people attend the Spanish Club meetings every week, but its officers hope to help the greater RWU community embrace diversity on campus.
“The club wants to include everyone, demonstrate differences between Latino cultures in South America, Central America and Spain, and inform the students about the lives of these cultures,” Beato said.
Hispanic snacks and drinks were provided by the club officers, including homemade flan. Raquelle Blanchette, a freshman communications major, shared her thoughts about the event. “I went because it was an event I have been looking forward to. Movies in Spanish have always interested me and I feel like I learn a lot or at least get to practice my Spanish. I have fun in Spanish Club so I went because I knew the event would be fun too,” Blanchette said. When the movie finally started there were no subtitles, except when the English-speaking character spoke, during which it had Spanish subtitles. Blanchette did not seem to mind though.“Because there were no subtitles, it was great practice to try and figure out what they were talking about in the film. I also learned a little more about children brought up in between two distinct cultures,” Blanchette said.
It is important to recognize different cultures that may not have a particularly large community on campus. The Spanish Club is a place where people can be comfortable with who they are, embrace cultures and learn outside of the classroom.
“I think because RWU has a majority of white students, students should try to experience what different cultures have to offer. I also think RWU students should try to organize clubs to represent other cultures,” Blanchette said.
